Spring Grove Heating & Air Conditioning re-opens

SPRING GROVE – Spring Grove Heating & Air Conditioning has been a staple in the community for decades.

That’s why when John and Laurie Lettner heard it was going out of business, they decided to see if they could purchase it.

They officially took over in mid-July.

“The first week we had the phones, it was 100 degrees outside,” Laurie Lettner said.

“It went nuts,” John Lettner added.

The husband-and-wife pair also own and operate Pure Air Heating and Air Conditioning, a Northbrook business they bought in 1998 and then moved to Morton Grove and finally to Glenview in 2006.

It was right around the time of the final move that the Lettners and their two daughters, Krissy, 18, and Jessica, 20, moved to Spring Grove, drawn by the open space – sandhill cranes are frequent visitors to their backyard – and a barn where John Lettner can indulge his interest in snowmobiling and motorcycling.

The Lettners belong to the Richmond Trailblazers, a snowmobiling club based in nearby Richmond.

“We’re not an outsider coming in and just taking over this area,” John Lettner said. “We do have roots here. We’ve raised our kids here. We’ve put our kids through schools here. Both of our kids now are graduated [from] high school and going off to college.

“We’re doing this to continue on with this Spring Grove Heating & Air Conditioning tradition. We want this to remain a cornerstone for this community that it has for umpteen years.”

Getting the word out that Spring Grove Heating & Air Conditioning is back and still locally owned has been half the battle.

The previous owner, Bob Hahn, sold the building on Route 12, and for a while, the phone number was answered by an automatic message saying it was closed.

“Everyone thought it was out of business – and it was until I came into the picture,” John Lettner said.

They’re also putting an emphasis on making sure the transition is seamless for their customers.

The Lettners take pride in the recognitions Pure Air Heating & Air Conditioning has received for customer service.

They’ve received the Super Service Award from Angie’s List for four years running, which means they’ve received an “A” average on reviews received during the year and have an overall “A” rating.

They also received an A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau, which takes into account how long the business has been around and the fact that they’ve received no complaints.

Focused on taking ownership, the Lettners haven’t finalized what other changes may be coming to the business. They’re toying with combining the names, so that both locations are one unified business.

With Pure Air covering the north and northwest suburbs and Spring Grove Heating & Air Conditioning focused further to the north, it also opens up the opportunity to fill in the middle, John Lettner said.

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Pure Air Heating & Air Conditioning

What: Owned by John and Laurie Lettner of Spring Grove, Pure Air provides service, installation and maintenance of heating and air conditioning systems for residential and commercial properties.